Brick School Board Fails To Fill Vacant Seat

The schism on the Brick Township Board of Education was laid bare on Monday night.

After interviewing nine people to fill the board seat vacated in late April when John Talty resigned due to health reasons, the board was unable to reach agreement on any of the candidates to fill the seat for this year.

After four motions -- two to appoint Talty, two to appoint Brenda Calderone -- failed due to tie votes, the board agreed unanimously to send the matter to the Ocean County executive superintendent for a decision.

“Why did they waste our time?” one candidate complained, after listening to public comment that favored reappointing Talty, whose bid to rescind his resignation was rejected at the last board meeting when a motion to do so failed in a tie vote.

Sharon Cantillo, Karyn Cusanelli and Susan Suter voted in favor of the reappointment that night, while Michael Conti, Frank Pannucci Jr. and John Barton voted against, saying they wanted the process already in place to go forward because people already had submitted applications to fill Talty’s seat.

There were some who thought the interview process Monday night would be a mere formality. But the political undercurrent was thick from the get-go, as several of the candidates spoke to being “free” and “independent” of politics. And when the votes fell along the same lines as they had at the May 28 meeting, the split on the board became clear.

The candidates were interviewed in alphabetical order, with Calderone going first. Others who interviewed were Walter Campbell, who served on the board in 2011; Leonard Figula, a supervisor with the U.S. Postal Service; Victor Finamore, who supervises a Hurricane Sandy assistance program; Patricia Morrison, a former 35-year teacher in the Toms River schools; Larry Reid, the former board member who lost his seat last November when Barton was elected; Talty; Lois Turner, a finance manager whose husband is a teacher in a Monmouth County district; and George White, who taught in the Jackson schools for 20 years before he retired.

While most of the candidates spoke of their particular qualifications, Reid spent his interview session urging the board to reappoint Talty.

“I think having outstanding schools is the key to any community,” Reid said, “and it should be the goal of anyone on the board. He was the people’s choice. That’s one of the reasons John Talty should have this seat back.”

Reid also told the board that failing to make a decision “would be an abdication” of its duties to public.

“You were elected to make the decisions of what’s best for the school district,” he said. “The county superintendent was not elected by Brick voters. ”

“You have to make a decision here,” Reid said. “If you can’t make a decision, don’t blame Congress.”

Talty was nominated first by Cusanelli, and after his nomination failed, Barton nominated Calderone. Attempts to renominate both failed, and as they did, frustration in the audience became clear.

Nan Coll of Greenbrier asked board members to explain why they voted the way they did, particularly on the no votes against Talty, whom she supported. Board attorney Jack Sahradnik said there was no requirement that they do so.

Conti said he voted for Calderone because she has spent a significant amount of time involved in special education issues, including extensive service with the Special Education Parent Teacher Association, and felt she represented a point of view that wasn’t really represented on the board.

Cusanelli countered that Barton represented that point of view because he is a special education teacher, and said she felt Talty’s experience as a board member was critically needed with the challenges the district faces, with contract negotiations and the criminal investigation of suspended superintendent Walter Uszenski, a sentiment that Suter seconded.

Cusanelli also indirectly took the men to task, saying, “Every faction on this board needs to remember the code of ethics they took. ‘I will refuse to surrender my independent judgment to special interest or partisan political groups or to use the schools for personal gain or for the gain of friends.”

Pannucci retorted -- albeit politely -- that the women should keep the same thing in mind.

Whomever Todd C. Flora, the interim Executive County Superintendent, appoints of the nine -- all nine resumes get forwarded to him for review and selection -- will fill the position only until November, when one person will be chosen to fill that seat for the final year of its term, which is next year.

Two other seats will have new members as well, as Conti and Pannucci are running for the Township Council and not seeking re-election to their school board seats.